"... up!"

"Ugh…"

It was red, and suffocatingly hot and humid. And something thumped hard from somewhere, sending shockwaves of agony across his existence, nearly threatening to bring him under again.

I… What?

Nar snapped back into being with a sharp, painful inhale. It quickly devolved into a coughing fit, and he flinched as pain raged across his body.

"Get up! Eum! Nar!" a voice shouted in his head. "Gad! Viy! Rel! Tun! You need to get back to the ma'bat! We fell into a whole nest of these things!"

Nar forced his trembling arms under him, and moaned wordlessly as he flipped himself upright, and pain flared across his body in a renewed crescendo of demands and protests.

"What the… Fuck!" he muttered.

His leg hurt so much he had almost blanked again.

Looking down and straining with his blurry sight to see what in the Pile was the cause of so much agony, his mind went mute at what it saw. A long coil of razor-sharp thorns was wrapped around his leg, and the thorns had to be the size of his hand. It was only by the fact that he had bones that his leg hadn't been completely severed on his way down.

The only reason he was even awake with such a grievous wound, was because somehow, either by itself or thanks to Nar's relentless and ingrained practice, his aura had started to slowly heal him, with searing gray streams of light streaking from his thorn flesh.

A quick glance at his status window told him that his HP was down to mere 279/820, but that his aura was still holding strong at 13,046/16,830. And he was surprised to find that he had no [Bleeding] on him.

And where's that Miasma debuff? He wondered, his slurred, fragmented thoughts struggling to make sense of things.

"Get up, people! Or we are all gonna get eaten!"

With a jolt, he finally recognized Leon's voice.

"What… What's happening?" Nar asked, fighting through the daze of his pounding, frazzled heartbeat drumming against his rattled mind. He must have hit it on his way down too.

"Nar! Thank the fucking Radiants!" Leon shouted. "Are you okay?"

"No…" he said, honestly. "But I will be. Healing."

"Thank the Azzin!" Calli said, drowning out her brother. "Is Rel okay? She should be right next to you!"

Blinking, Nar turned his head left, then right.

He seemed to have landed in some sort of alcove made up of the large thorns that covered the Hungry Jungle. Vines and smaller thorns climbed up the larger ones in a chaos of yellow and reddish, sickly looking sharp mess, and red light streamed in from all sorts of holes, gaps, and twists and turns in the thorns, and for a moment, he lost all sense for what was up or down in that living labyrinth.

But then, as he moved his eyes, he just about caught sight of something.

"R-Rel!" he rasped.

The archer was lying face down on a section of thorns above his, her hand dangling limply from above with a trickle of deep red dripping down the tips of her fingers.

"Rel!" he shouted again.

But she didn't move, in a place like the Hungry Jungle, it wasn't wise to be loud. Especially not in their state.

Frantic, he checked her status.

Alive! He found, relief flushing him.

"Nar?" Calli asked again.

"She's here. She's above me! But she's not moving!"

"Her HP is showing stable, so she'll be fine!" Calli said. "What about you? How bad is it?"

"I'll heal!" Nar said, glaring down at the thorns coiled around his leg. "I just need some time. Is everyone else okay?"

"Most of us are here, even if passed out. But some got separated on the way down, and I can't wake them up! Focus on healing as fast as you can, and join us with Rel! We fell on a nest of some kind of slimy things, and they're starting to take notice!" the strategist said. "So, heal! Quick!"

"On it!"

Fully alert now, he pushed his senses fully around him.

Damn… he thought, ignoring his mounting, pounding headache.

The place was teeming with things.

Things that skittered.

Things that buzzed.

Thinks that clicked and others that droned.

Just in his proximity, there must be a dozen or so beasts, and he had no illusions as to what they would try to do to them once they discovered the crashed party in their midst. So he got to it.

Gritting his teeth in preparation for the pain, he reached for the thorns, intending on ripping them from his flesh so that he could finally heal.

His aura was throwing everything it could at them, but the dozen or so thorns were still firmly locked in place, the whole vine thing twisted around his thigh. He had no doubt that eventually, his aura would either burn through them or push them out, but he didn't have time for eventually, nor could he afford to waste aura like. He needed to be up. Now.

However, just as he was about to pull the first, long thorn out, his battered brain conjured up a conversation. Well, several of them.

"Don't do anything crazy to heal!" Jasphaer had told him.

"If it's a massive wound, check with me first!" he said, on another occasion.

"There's a right and a wrong way of doing things! Ask me first!"

And so on and on, the healer had pounded the warning, the plea, into him, and the last thing Nar needed was to rush into an even worse situation.

Sighing, and pushing back against the panicked adrenaline coursing through his veins, he forced himself to take deep breaths.

"Actually, is there any healer up?" he asked into the chat, in the space between Leon's and Calli's attempts to wake up the others.

"I'm here, Nar. What do you need?" Leta said to his relief.

"I have some kind of branch wrapped around my leg. Maybe 12 thorns, about the size of my hand, stabbed right to the bone," he explained. "My aura is trying to heal me, and it's shining through my wounds, but I need to remove the thorns first. I think."

"Genahu… You're surprisingly calm about that," Leta said, in an awed tone.

I really owe Tys, he thought. Even if she and the master prove to have been in on what Aedina did to me. If not for all that torture every night…

"Crystal, man," Jaz whispered, his tone horrified. "That's seriously messed up."

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Nar winced as he realized that in his battered state, he had broadcasted his thoughts to the party. However, it wasn't as though it was a secret at this stage.

"Ok, Nar. Listen to me. This is what you are going to do. First, try to tug gently at one of the thorns. Gently!" Leta guided him. "Does it feel like it is stuck?"

"No… It came out a bit, I think," Nar said, swallowing hard against the pain.

"Alright, that's good! It means that it doesn't have barbs or hooks," she said, even as Leon called for missing people again.

Nar's heart was starting to race again, fearing for what might happen to anyone passed out and injured in that voracious and poisonous jungle. The name Hungry Jungle was quickly living up to its name.

"Okay. You will need to remove them one by one, Nar. You're going to pull them out in the same direction in which they went in. Do it gently, and slowly, and keep the thorns straight. It might be designed to break and stay inside you and that would be disastrous," she explained. "You have no [Bleeding], but as you pull out the thorns, you will likely get it. When that happens, cycle more aura into the area to close it ASAP, and once the thorn is out, fully flood it out so that you heal faster. I'll check you later for infections and whatnot."

"Don't hold back, Nar," Leon said. "Things are not looking good. This isn't the time for training."

"I won't," he promised. "I'll be up soon."

"Good luck, man," Jaz wished him.

Given how few people had actually commented on his little slip up about Tys' training, he had no doubts about the grim reality of their situation. With most of them downed, likely severely injured, with only one of their three healers up, and having landed atop some kind of beast nest, things were definitely not looking good for them… So without wasting another moment, not even to gather his resolve, he pulled the first thorn out. He did it gently, but probably faster than Leta would've wanted him to.

He clenched his jaw and forced his hands to keep going as blood gushed freely from the puncture wound, and he flooded aura into the area with a burning anger and need.

Come on! Come on! He pleaded to his aura. People need me. I got to get up!

This was not the end. There would never be an end to his party, or Row's or even Leon's under his watch, and so he pulled out the thorns one by one, not waiting for them to heal individually. There was so much aura leaking from him, that his wounds glowed brightly enough to envelop in a glowing orb of shifting gray.

With the last of the thorns pulled free from his flesh, he was finally able to rip the coiled vine from around his leg, and he threw it away from him with a grunt before focusing back on his cycling.

He didn't even need to close his eyes at this stage, and he watched in amazement as his wounds slowly healed, closing before his very eyes.

Definitely not fully healed though, he thought, tentatively shifting his leg. But it will have to do.

He cautiously pushed himself back face down, allowing his aura to take control of the self-healing process of his leg and head, and placed his good, left leg under his body. Then he pushed himself upright.

The red mist coated, macabre living labyrinth of black thorns shifted around him, once more causing his mind to confuse up and down, right and left, but he steadied himself with deep breaths, and tried his left leg…

Yep, that hurts, he thought, inhaling and exhaling sharply, but not allowing himself to break Tys' teachings. Alright, let's do this.

With a burst of [Strength] and aid from his [Agility], he jumped up to where Rel was laying.

"Rel?" he asked, swallowing the agony that the movement caused.

He placed a hand over her mouth and nose, just to make sure she was indeed alive, then felt her clammy forehead.

Crystal!

"Leta! Rel is burning!" he said.

"They all are. It's the [Touch of Rot]," the healer reminded him. "There's disease in the air. In these thorns. And now, it's inside them."

"Nothing we can do about it for now!" Calli said. "Just bring her with you, Nar. We caved in their nest, but they're trying to break through! We need to find the others and get out of here!"

"On my way!"

He scooped Rel up into his arms, and cradling her against his chest, he checked the map.

He immediately winced at the blank grayness that met him.

Damn it!

They had never been meant to actually explore the inner Hungry Jungle, just its outskirts on the Great Lake's side. So, and probably in a cost-cutting choice, as they all were, they hadn't been provided with a map of the whole thing. Fortunately, he could still see the others' locations across the grayness.

We're not that far! I think? He realized with relief. But which way do I even go?

The mess of barely walkable thorns made it almost impossible to navigate, but he didn't have the time to hesitate. He pointed himself in the direction of the others, and ran towards them as best as he could, his left leg slowing him considerably.

So far, he had heard Leon, Calli, Jaz and Leta, and a quick glance at the domain party status revealed an ugly picture. So far, it was looking increasingly like only himself, and those four were up.

Nar cast another quick glance at the map instead. He was getting closer to the main group, where Leon, Calli, Jaz and Leta, as well as practically everyone else, were all bunched up together. As for the ones that Leon and Calli kept calling for, Gad and Viy were somewhere to his left, while Eum and Tun were to his right, but alone. In fact, Tun was practically within his reach.

"I'm close to Tun. I'm going to grab him on my way!" Nar said.

"Please! Thank you!" Calli said. "Eum! Gad! Viy! Wake up!"

Nar sped up his pace, ignoring the ravaging pain in his healing leg and head.

Why aren't they going out there to grab them? He wondered. Are they hurt too? Or is protecting the main group more important?

Thankfully, soon he stumbled upon Tun's prone shape.

The bulky tank was completely out of it, and he too displayed the same clammy complexion as Rel. He flipped the archer onto his left shoulder, and bent down to pick up the big guy.

"Shit!" he breathed, as he scanned the big morsvar.

Tun's legs and left side of his chest were shredded by numerous deep slashes and gashes, and deep dark blood was pooled around him, his breathing shallow.

"Hang in there," he whispered to the tank. "I got you."

He had no choice but to lift him up unceremoniously and keep going. Tun needed a healer, and quickly.

"Leta, Tun's really hurt!" he said, warning the healer in advance. "Deep cuts on his chest, and bleeding out!"

"I'll be ready for him," the cooline vowed.

Though with so many hurt, Nar wondered how much their one single healer could do for them. Or for the aethermancers. Luckily, both Kur and Row were over prepared and overcautious leaders, and they had both emptied their respective party's common funds to make sure they were ready for any eventuality.

If there's ever a time to start downing potions, it's now, Nar thought, and with one last spurt of [Stamina] he came to a sudden halt as the thorns parted before him. A round hole had been dug through them and…

No… That's… Chewed? Dissolved? He thought, frowning at the branches around him.

"Nar! Down here!" Calli called. "Wait, where's your mask?"

Staring down, Nar found what was left of their poor ma'bat at the end of an almost 200-foot drop. Its body was half buried into the wall of thorns, and in the small clearing beside it, he spotted the others.

Calli was looking up from behind her mask, waving at him, and Leon too looked up, but he was seated beside his sister as he nursed a potion.

That answers why he hasn't gone for anyone, Nar thought. Must be hurt. And he's got the [Touch of Rot] too… Damn it!

Leta, also wearing her full-face mask and hood, spared him a quick glance, but she was too busy presumably healing Row. At least, it seemed as though she and Calli had managed to don the mask before she fell, avoiding the Miasma. As for Jaz, he too donned his mask, and for a moment Nar dared to hope that the jokester had managed to avoid the [Touch of Rot] as well... But it was a hope soon dashed when Nar saw him coughing.

Nar had noticed that he seemed to be immune to those red swirls of Miasma, likely due to his self-healing and overbearing amount of aura, so he hadn't bothered to get a mask on in his rush to help the others.

As for the rest of the domain party, they were strewn around and under the ma'bat's right wing, in a clear effort at keeping them somewhat sheltered.

"Don't need it," Nar said. "I think my aura is just burning through it."

"Damn! Well, there's a path down that way!" Calli shouted, pointing to Nar's left. "You can get down here with some jumping!"

"On it!" Nar said.

Crystal! How far down does this damned jungle go? He thought, as he carefully jumped down from thick branch to thick branch so as to not allow his injured leg to falter him.

Their moment under a clear sky beside the ma'bat lair had, apparently, been just that. A brief respite, and now, they were back in the thick of it.

Crystal. I miss those trees already, he thought to himself as he neared the bottom. And the rain. And the mud. And the darkness…

Calli was already waiting for him when he made the final jump down.

"How are they?" Calli asked, rushing to gently take Rel from Nar's shoulder.

"Not good. Tun looks worse, though."

"Radiants…" Calli whispered when she saw the tank's wounds.

"Bring'em here!" Leta called, and the two of them rushed to do so.

"Nar, you need to go grab the others!" Leon said, his physical voice much more strained than his mental. "This place is filled with beasts!"

"I sensed them," Nar said, giving him a grim nod.

He laid the tank down and left him and Rel to Leta's care.

"I would've gone, but I can barely stand," Leon said, rage and disappointment evident in his raspy voice.

"Don't worry! I'll get them all!" Nar said, standing up again.

"Go for Gad and Viy, first! Their HP looks the worst!" Leon said.

"Got it!"

Nar oriented himself in the direction of Gad and Viy, and looked up the wall of thorns. The red light of the Miasma covered sky shone hazily from dozens of gaps in the giant dark branches, reminding of just how high, and out of reach the sky was.

Crystal, Nar thought, staring at the larger hole that indicated where they had crashed from. We're in a bad spot here. Really bad.

"They'll be up there. Probably around the height you were," Leon said, as Nar begun to climb.

"And you should hurry!" another voice said.

Nar glanced behind in surprise. He had forgotten about Jaz. And looking past the masked, lightly coughing archer, he found the aforementioned collapsed entryway to the nest behind Jaz as well, and realized he had forgotten about it too. This rock and mud mound swallowed the branches, and it had a much slimier appearance than the ma'bat's spires. The structure was tinged a greenish-red, and it grew upwards and outwards from the unknown jungle floor, which was probably still far below them.

The entrance had indeed been caved in.

"We've got it covered for now, but hurry," Leon said, wincing. "That's not going to hold forever. And there might be another exit nearby!"

Nar gave him a nod and kept climbing.

"I'll be back, hang in there!" he said.

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